1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-lethal weapon for firing a stabilized, rupturable paint ball ammunition. The stabilized ammunition of the present invention is a specially adapted xe2x80x9cpaint ballxe2x80x9d and ruptures on impact, delivering an impact shock or sting to targeted personnel, along with marking paint, dyes, odor containing liquids or other materials, to provide a deterrent effect in civil peacekeeping roles.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A variety of non-lethal methods and instrumentalities have been employed in civil peacekeeping efforts to control rioters while minimizing life-threatening injuries and the negative publicity resulting from such injuries, especially to women and children.
Fire hoses have been employed as instruments for riot control, but have largely been abandoned for such uses, due to the substantial potential for injury. Water cannons have also been used and, while the water cannon has advantages over the fire hose, it nevertheless has a substantial injury producing potential. Technically, the fire hose and the water cannon systems utilize a similar principal of projecting a variable intensity water jet stream to unbalance or disarm a targeted individual. Water cannons and fire hoses also have additional drawbacks in that they are large, heavy, cumbersome and normally require several persons and expensive ancillary equipment for transportation and operation.
The advantage of using the water cannon or fire hose is that specific individuals and barricades may be targeted without harming everyone in an area. A lack of ability to discriminate a targeted individual or group from others is the problem confronted with use of tear gas canisters in crowded areas. Once tear gas (or any other chemical gas deterrent) has been released into the atmosphere, it is virtually impossible to control where the gas travels and therefore it is very difficult to target particular individuals in a rioting mob. Collateral damage to innocent bystanders (e.g., journalists) is an unacceptable consequence encountered in using tear gas.
Conventional firearms may be used with elastomeric projectiles such as rubber bullets, however, such use involves a risk of lethal injury if the targeted individual is accidentally struck in the eye or the throat. The mass and velocity required for acceptable accuracy in an elastomeric projectile at useful ranges gives excessive energy at close-in ranges, thus, a policeman using elastomeric projectiles must be extremely skillful and cautious in choosing targets and cannot respond to an assailant at close range without risking serious injury. There is also a risk that the policeman, in the heat of the moment, may mistakenly insert a magazine containing the wrong kind of ammunition into a conventional firearm, thus leading to a catastrophic loss of life.
Use of conventional fire arms and ammunition in riot control has been demonstrated to have terrible and long-lasting consequences, both for the victims of the shooting and for the agency employing such deadly force. History records that the demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio and in Tienanmen Square in Beijing were subdued with deadly force in what now are regarded as senseless tragedies. The use of deadly force, such as rifle or pistol fire from conventional weapons, has therefore been deemed an unacceptable response to civil disobedience.
There has been a long felt need, then, for a non-lethal weapon which may be deployed safely and efficiently, and which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art by providing a non-lethal weapon for efficiently and effectively targeting particular individuals in a disorderly crowd and applying a non-lethal deterrent force to those targeted individuals.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a light weight, non-lethal weapon for use by an individual shooter; the weapon fires a rupturable, liquid-filled paint ball projectile of special design.
Paint ball gaming has become a popular sport and permits participants to practice combat tactics and maneuvers in relative safety since rupturable paint balls provide a non-lethal marker for those who have been xe2x80x9cshotxe2x80x9d and thus disqualified from continuing play. A paint ball customarily includes an elastomeric, liquid impermeable shell filled with liquid paint or dye for marking hits on opposing personnel or objects. U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,379 (Kotsiopoulos et al.) discloses a structure and method for making a paint ball (and is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference). The paint balls of the prior art do not provide a sufficient physical deterrent to use as a non-lethal weapon in civil peacekeeping roles, however, since the prior art paint balls do not provide sufficient impact shock. Paint balls of the prior art also spin in flight, resulting in an unduly limited range for accurate fire.
It is, therefore, a further object and feature of the invention to provide an improved, stabilized, low-hazard, paint ball ammunition enabling accurate, long-range delivery of a marking liquid or other liquid agents to a targeted person; the paint ball ruptures and provides a substantial kinetic shock on impact, thereby preventing paint ball reuse against the shooter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-lethal weapon for firing the stabilized paint-ball ammunition of the present invention from beneath the barrel of a conventional service rifle, thereby permitting a policeman or soldier to carry a conventional rifle for which use is well and widely trained and permitting use of conventional rifle sights.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide the non-lethal weapon affixed beneath the barrel of a conventional rifle with a separate trigger mechanism, thus reducing the likelihood that lethal force will accidentally be used.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a non-lethal weapon having a plurality of magazines with different kinds of non-lethal ammunition, wherein each magazine is marked with indicia alerting the policeman or soldier of the type of ammunition to be fired.
The aforesaid objects are achieved individually and in combination, and it is not intended that the present invention be construed as requiring two or more of the objects to be combined unless expressly required by the claims attached hereto.
A lightweight, paint ball firing weapon is easily attached to the standard service rifles carried by the military and police (e.g., the M16A2 and the AR-15). The weapon of the present invention is non-lethal and fits underneath the barrel of the M16A2 on the existing hard points provided for the M-203 forty millimeter grenade launcher. A separate triggering system allows the shooter to fire the non-lethal weapon while aligning the sights of the rifle upon an intended target. The weapon is accurate and effective out to a range of beyond one hundred yards when firing the stabilized paint balls of the present invention.
The paint ball of the present invention is stabilized by a first immiscible high density component filling approximately one third of the ball interior volume. Paint or some other liquid is used as a lower density component filling the remaining ball interior volume. The high density component may be talc powder, lead shot, sand, glass beads, steel particles, or a high density substantially immiscible liquid, paste or gel.
The specially adapted, stabilized paint ball of the present invention may include a colorant or dye and, optionally, a skin irritant or odor producing liquid. The ball is enclosed by an elastomeric, fluid impermeable skin scored or marked to ensure immediate bursting and kinetic energy dissipation upon impact. In alternative embodiments, the ball may be filled with a any of a plurality of liquids, thereby providing a baton-marker round, a chemical incapacitating (e.g., oleoresin capsicum) round, a transdermal drug delivery round, or a water-filled training round. Other embodiments will have infrared or ultraviolet (UV) illuminating/tagging dyes for marking a doorway or a vehicle to identify threats or targets for lethal fire in night battle. The paint ball ammunition may be color coded for easy identification of the contents and intended use. The weapon firing a selection of different types of paint ball ammunition preferably includes a plurality of magazines in which the different types are separately stored. Preferably, the magazine tubes are marked with external indicia of ammunition type or, optionally, the magazine tubes may include a window, thus allowing the paint ball color coding and condition to be seen.
Advantageously, the paint ball of the present invention includes, in addition to the liquids discussed above, the charge of higher density, substantially immiscible material, movable freely within the ball interior volume for stabilizing the trajectory of the ball in flight. With the weighted material in the ball interior volume, an unusually accurate paint ball having greater mass and therefore delivering greater kinetic energy is provided for use in non-lethal deterrent and marking applications.